Much as the Iranians did during Jimmy Carter’s failed presidency, when they held 52 Americans from the U.S. Embassy hostage for 444 days, North Korea is now testing to see just how far it can push the Obama administration before the United States pushes back.
The latest test is the sentencing of two U.S. journalists to 12 years of hard labor on transparently trumped-up charges of illegally entering North Korea. This outrage follows hard on the heels of North Korea launching another long-range ballistic missile, detonating another nuclear device and withdrawing from the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.
President Barack Obama’s response to these bald-faced provocations has been all talk, describing Pyongyang’s latest behavior as “extraordinarily provocative,” saying he is “deeply concerned” about the imprisoned journalists and promising a “hard look” at his options. But that’s about it. U.S. Special Envoy Stephen Bosworth said much the same thing after North Korea’s April 5 missile launch: The United States is “committed to dialogue” and wants to return to the negotiating table “as soon as we can.” Unfortunately, North Korea is now in a much stronger bargaining position than before.
A group of Republican senators led by Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is urging Obama to actually do something concrete, like restoring North Korea to the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Last year, the Bush administration made a huge mistake by delisting North Korea — even after it tried to build a nuclear reactor in Syria — without getting anything in return.
Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton said the delisting “represents a classic case of prizing the negotiation process over substance.” DeMint put it another way: “The carrot didn’t work. It’s time for the stick.”
After a closed trial, Laura Ling and Euna Lee — both reporters for Current TV, a San Francisco-based cable and Web network founded by former Vice President Al Gore — were accused of spying and illegal entry for interviewing North Korean defectors, charges Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calls “baseless.”
How forcefully Obama responds to North Korea and Iran now will largely determine not only whether more journalists wind up behind bars, but also whether this bantam-weight nuclear wannabe and others like it will be allowed to bully the globe.
